Powerline vs Wireless N

songokussm

Senior member
Jun 25, 2005
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Been researching for about 2 weeks, and my brain hurts, so I want your thoughts.

My N setup:
DIR-655
3x DWA-552
Updated drivers and firmware as of 1/2/10
2x Running windows 7
1x WHS

Powerline setup:
4x Netgear XAV101-100NAR (at 35 each its a killer deal for a 200mbps connection)
Updated firmware and tool as of 1/21/10

*No other devices wireless or wired*

wireless performance (wifi to Lan):
G (connected @ 54) 900k to 1mb/s down --> 1mb/s to 1.2mb up
N (connected @ 300) 8mb /s down --> 6.5mb/s up

Powerline:
1(connected @ 195) 9mb/s down and up
2(connected @ 165) 8mb/s down and 7mb/s up


Why is this so slow? Its running at lan t100 speeds. should at least be double that.
 

Emulex

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2001
9,759
1
71
turn on the dyson vacuum and try again!

no seriously both are overhyped b/s rated devices.


go cat5/6 or bust!

powerline is rated at 80-90% UDP packet loss. whats 80-90% loss of 195?? :)
 

Engineer

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
39,230
701
126
turn on the dyson vacuum and try again!

no seriously both are overhyped b/s rated devices.


go cat5/6 or bust!

powerline is rated at 80-90% UDP packet loss. whats 80-90% loss of 195?? :)

If he/she has coax outlets in each area, MoCA Ethernet over Coax (shared with TV signals) would be good too. Speeds up to 250Mbps.
 

Emulex

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2001
9,759
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yeah moca doesn't work with alot of new IRD's like the ones the backfeed a second tv over channel 63-73 or dish (dish backfeeds power to control the horns polarity, can shock you!).

sadly - 1mm cat6a flatwire - cheap - run it out the window and back in upstairs and tape it down - ghetto? yeah? works - been using it for a year or two with gigabit transfers. hides under floorboards and carpet real well too. 1mm.
 

songokussm

Senior member
Jun 25, 2005
258
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so far with a fan, vacuum, and blow dryer all on, my net doesn't flinch.

moca is to expensive. so that's out.

So is my only other option running a cable?
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,227
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wireless performance (wifi to Lan):
G (connected @ 54) 900k to 1mb/s down --> 1mb/s to 1.2mb up
N (connected @ 300) 8mb /s down --> 6.5mb/s up

Powerline:
1(connected @ 195) 9mb/s down and up
2(connected @ 165) 8mb/s down and 7mb/s up

Why is this so slow? Its running at lan t100 speeds. should at least be double that.
The way you've written that, it appears to be megaBITs (small b), not megaBYTEs (capital B). Is that what you intended, or did you intend to say megabytes? Because if it's megabytes, those numbers are in fact pretty much right on. There's nothing wrong with your network at all.
 

songokussm

Senior member
Jun 25, 2005
258
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My bad, i was referring to BYTES. not bits.

Kinda interesting how 300mbps for wireless N and 200mbps for powerline still only equal 100mbps. I would assume that's what you call false advertising.
 

RadiclDreamer

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2004
8,622
40
91
My bad, i was referring to BYTES. not bits.

Kinda interesting how 300mbps for wireless N and 200mbps for powerline still only equal 100mbps. I would assume that's what you call false advertising.

Not really false advertising, there is protocol overhead, retransmits due to collision/CRC/completely missed packets that factor in to that final transfer speed

It doesnt say 200mbps transfer, just 200mbps. Some of that is used to ensure the network actually "works" :)

Also, there are tweaks to make things better, but those speeds arent terrible for 2 mediums that are VERY noisy
 

Emulex

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2001
9,759
1
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200mbps in a perfect environment (direct plugged no noise) theory. same with wifi. but everything is noisy these days. power lines are noisy.

if your sata cables were that noisy you surely wouldn't get anywhere near the performance and reliability you do get!
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
71,312
14,084
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www.anyf.ca
I would just go with ethernet, simpler, and no special equipment needed other then standard switches, network cards, and a router. (router and switch is usually same device in a home setup)

Worse case scenario just do surface mounts if it's too hard to do it properly.
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,889
6,054
146
IF you are getting 9 Mb/sec then you are close to as good as it gets with any segment of 100 *m*b/sec lan.
100mbs ~12Mbps